The Creation of Luxeterra
The Creation of Luxeterra The creation of Luxeterra and the cosmos beyond is a topic that is hotly debated among religions, each offering it's own perspective to the creation of all things. However, while the churches of Luxeterra struggle to find common ground in these debates, most scholars have accepted a neutral story, which draws from the most common elements of all historical and mythological tellings of the story. The time before Before life, or Luxterra existed—before time, space, earth, and fire, two beings were born. They were Szul and Ghais, and they lived among the empty abyss. Over millenia, they found that they were capable of creating existence from nothingness. Together, they built the fabric of space, dotting it with glittering stars orbited by billions of rocks. "The cosmos," they called this, and within its random design they instilled order and reason. Szul and Ghais' conflict The concept of forming intelligent life intrigued Ghais; for what greater creation could there be than one that could create on its own? However, such a creation could very well unbalance the perfect order that had been crafted into the cosmos. This possibility terrified Ghais. Szul, on the other hand, would not let this stop him! Bored with the cosmos as it was, Szul desired entertainment. He aspired to create things on his own, free from the limitations that Ghais placed upon him. So, to avoid her interference, he hid himself. Over millenia, he studied, practiced, and gained knowledge of the essence of the cosmos. Finally, content with the knowledge he had gained, he bagan his work. From his countless centuries spent learning, Szul knew of the sacrifices needed to bring the place he wished to create into existence. He tapped into his ability to take a corporeal form, giving it up to build what would become known as Luxeterra. He sacrificed some of his will to exist, to bring forth beings in this desolate place. Finally, he gave some of his keen wit, so that life would have intelligence and freedom to exist. It was during this time that the Aspects of Szul were created Szul's fall Szul had been discovered in the midst of his work, however. Without his knowledge, Ghais watched in horror, and she saw what he had created. To her, these were abominations and aberrations; they were twisted shells of life, and she was disgusted by them. Enraged by these creations, Ghais attacked Szul! Already weakened by the creation of Luxeterra, Szul was at a disadvantage. Although he struggled, Ghais eventually struck down Szul. He had betrayed her, and willfully brought inbalance to the cosmos they had built togerther. However, Ghais knew that she could not kill Szul, So she instead built a prison deep within the crust of the planet to contain him. Szul, now completely consumed with vengeance and hatred, refused to slumber in his prison. Slowly, he would escape and he would have his vengance. His blood, hatred, and ambition seeped out of the prison and stained the planet, and so the Ebonfell was born. Szul could not walk the lands, or travel the cosmos he had created, but his essence would slowly spill forth, and destroy it all. Filled with this newfound hatred and suffering, he became something new—something sinister. He would escape, and Ghais would know his wrath. Luxterra, born Ghais threw her entire being into repairing the inbalance that was Szul's creation. She poured compassion and hope into the world to balance the malice and despair. She formed new races of elves, dwarves and humans to stand among Szul's cursed creatures, swaying back the scales of the cosmos into balance. Finally, she made the Children of Ghaia to contain the power of Szul and protect her new creations. With this, Ghais left Luxterra. She was distraught that Szul had fallen so far from the being she had known for millenia. The being she had loved. And so, Szul's beings populated the Ebonfell, and hers filled the remainder of the world. There would be conflict where the two met, but Ghais' hope was that she poured enough of her light into the world to stand against the darkness of the Ebonfell. She dreamed that under the guidance of the new gods, all living things could survive, grow and thrive. This existence was as close as possible to the balance that Ghais had sought to preserve in the cosmos. There was no possibility of Ghais knowing that Szul was still working; that trapped within the walls of his prison, deep underground, Szul was plotting and planning. He would do anything to corrupt her changes to his world—anything!